Warwick Acoustics secures major automotive contract
Mercia announces that Warwick Acoustics Limited secured its first production contract with a leading global luxury vehicle manufacturer. The multi-year contract is with a global top 10 luxury manufacturer and is a major milestone for Warwick Acoustics, validating the performance and scalability for its proprietary automotive audio system, which is based on electrostatic transducers. The contract will initially be for two vehicle programs and will be delivered via a significant expansion of Warwick Acoustics’ design, development and manufacturing capabilities.
Mercia exits Intechnica in £14.5m sale to US company
Mercia is pleased to announce the profitable sale of Intechnica Holdings Limited for a total enterprise value of £14.5million, to US-based Crosslake Technologies LLC. Mercia held a 25.5% direct holding in Intechnica at the date of completion and will receive cash proceeds of £3.7million, generating an internal rate of return (“IRR”) of 27% and a 1.7x multiple on its current holding value.
nDreams continues its progress with first acquisition
Mercia announces that nDreams Limited has acquired Brighton-based Near Light Limited. Founded in 2016, Near Light is a long-term partner of nDreams and a virtual reality and augmented reality game development studio. Near Light developed the nDreams-published Perfect and Shooty Fruity VR titles, in addition to recently pioneering an AR experience for one of the world’s leading toy brands.
Acquisition of Frontier Development Capital Limited
Mercia is delighted to announce that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of the central-Birmingham headquartered Frontier Development Capital Limited, for a total consideration of up to £9.5million plus net cash. FDC is a leading, regionally focused lender to SMEs, with c.£415million of funds under management. The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing. FDC has successfully built loan portfolios totaling c.100 companies, predominantly located across the Midlands and the North of England. As well as its Birmingham head office, FDC also has offices in Manchester and Bristol, two of Mercia’s existing office locations
Sale of OXGENE delivers strategic objective of ‘evergreening’ Mercia’s balance sheet
Mercia’s sale of OXGENE is a great example of how Mercia’s EIS funds and its balance sheet proprietary capital work together to provide superior returns. The exit, which was announced in March 2021, reaffirms the significant opportunity and value creation potential offered by Mercia’s ‘funds first’ hybrid investment model, which is focused on promising regional companies. We refer to this as ‘the thriving regions’ and it follows the same format as our exit from The Native Antigen Company. Mercia held a 32.1% direct holding in the business prior to completion, receiving cash proceeds of £30.7million, our largest cash exit to date.
Mercia-backed It’s All Good acquired by Irish Valeo Foods Group
Gateshead-based It’s All Good, which makes pitta chips and tortilla snacks including the Manomasa range, was acquired by the Irish Valeo Foods Group in December 2020. Mercia’s Northern VCTs first invested in the savoury snack manufacturer in February 2014, backing former Union Snacks MD Calum Ryder who set up the company with Michael Weatherhead and Lynn Saul. It’s All Good was one of four North East firms which this year made the Alantra Food & Beverage Fast 50 and was ranked one of the UK’s fastest-growing privately-owned food and drinks businesses.
Mercia achieves a 1.8x return on exit of Refract
Refract provides sales engagement and conversation analytics that help sales teams improve conversations and close more deals. It uncovers decisive moments in sales conversations for coaching and insight. Key moments can be highlighted with effective feedback, sharing playbook moments and using AI to expose what leads to successful outcomes and top performers in an organisation. Mercia first backed the company in 2016 and made a follow-on investment in 2017. Mercia achieved a 1.8x return on its original investment, equal to a 20% IRR.
Successful exit of Clear Review delivering a 72% IRR
In October 2020, Mercia sold its stake in Clear Review for a cash consideration of £26.0million. The transaction followed a combination of Mercia’s managed funds in 2018 and then a direct investment in 2019. The acquirer, Advanced Business Software and Solutions, is the third largest British software and services company in the UK. Mercia held a 4.0% fully diluted direct holding in Clear Review at the date of sale and received cash proceeds of £1.0million representing a 2x return on its investment and a 72% IRR. In addition to this direct investment return, the sale will also generate an 8x..Read more
Mercia sells stake in The Native Antigen Company
Mercia sells stake in biotech EIS portfolio business spun out from the University of Birmingham Specialist asset manager, Mercia Asset Management PLC which has £800.0million of assets under management including more than £50.0million of EIS capital, has sold its stake in The Native Antigen Company , a leading producer of infectious disease reagents, to global life sciences tools company LGC . The sale of The Native Antigen Company is for a total cash consideration of up to £18.0million. The company, which was spun out of the University of Birmingham and backed by Mercia’s EIS funds since 2013, has generated..Read more